Steamboat invented by John Fitch shown on Delaware River between Philadelphia and Camden, which was demonstrated on August 22, 1787, to delegates from the Constitutional Convention meeting in Philadelphia. In 1790, Fitch began operating a steam-powered boat with up to 30 paying passengers on round-trips between Philadelphia and Burlington. Image: Library of Congress

Drawing of Gloucester Iron Works circa 1840. Image: Scientific American

Great Falls on Passaic River in Paterson, which was source of water power for industrial city proposed by Alexander Hamilton to be developed by private company Society for Establishment of Useful Manufactures, chartered by New Jersey in 1791. Image: National Park Service CC by SA 2.0

Six-year-old and nine-year-old boys from Philadelphia picking cranberries in Theodore Budd's Bog at Turkeytown, near Pemberton, in 1910. Image: Library of Congress

Mass meeting of strikers during Paterson Silk Strike of 1913 to hear speeches by strike leaders from balcony at Botto House in Haledon. Image: American Labor Museum

Ford Motor Co. Assembly Plant in Edgewater constructed between 1929 and 1931, considered the most advanced and efficient automobile assembly plant for its time. The plant was closed in 1955 and replaced by a new plant in Mahwah, which was shut down in 1980. Image: Ford Motor Co.

Launch of US Navy destroyers USS Radford and USS Fletcher on May 3, 1942 built at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny. Image: US Navy/Wikimedia Commons

Replica of the first transistor, invented at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley, and demonstrated for the first time on December 23, 1947. Image: Wikimedia Commons/National Archives

Original building of Johnson & Johnson, founded 1886 in New Brunswick. Image: KilmerHouse.org

Thomas Edison in his laboratory at West Orange in 1901. Image: Library of Congress

Workers, including boys, at Wheaton Glass in Bridgeton in 1909. Image: Library of Congress

Women workers with bolts of finished silk in Paterson factory in 1914. Image: Library of Congress

Six men lying on the ground awaiting ambulances after being shot during a strike at the Williams & Clark Fertilizing Company in what is now Carteret on April 13, 1915. Image: Library of Congress

Men wait in line in April 1935 to apply for work wielding a pick and shovel on Newark subway excavation project for $4 for a 10-hour day. Image: US Department of State

Workers at Switlik Parachute Co. in Trenton, largest supplier of parachutes during World War II, including making the one used by future President George H. W. Bush when he was shot down over the Pacific in September 1944. Image: Switlik Parachute Co.

View from air of suburban housing and retail development typical of post-World War II growth. Image: New Jersey Future

Label of Joseph Campbell Preserve Co. founded 1869, foreunner of Campbell Soup Co. established 1896 in Camden. Image: Camden County

1913 poster of the International Workers of the World promoting the Madison Square Garden pageant to benefit the striking Paterson silk workers. Image: Pinterest/Bergen.org

Strikers shown throwing stones at police in Bayonne during strike at refineries of Standard Oil of New Jersey and Tidewater Petroleum plants which began in 1915 and resumed in following year. Image: Library of Congress

Unemployed workers in Haddonfield during Great Depression in 1934. Image: Library of Congress

Parade of unemployed workers demanding jobs in Camden in 1935. Image: National Archives

Ad published in 1944 for Dumont Laboratories in Passaic, an early maker of televisions and broadcaster with studios in Manhattan. Image: NewJerseyAlmanac.com

Technology Centre of New Jersey, a state government supported incubator for technology firms. Image: NJ Economic Development Authority